The temperatures at the start of March are starting to moderate. If they moderate maybe just a little more, we could be in business.
Fingers crossed! 🫰
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0d8s...EvjRERoc8Tahtg
A60D44BE-9A7A-454F-B1A8-89C11CEA42FF.jpg
The temperatures at the start of March are starting to moderate. If they moderate maybe just a little more, we could be in business.
Fingers crossed! 🫰
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0d8s...EvjRERoc8Tahtg
A60D44BE-9A7A-454F-B1A8-89C11CEA42FF.jpg
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
I will be boiling today and tomorrow. The goal is to boil all of the sap I have collected, maybe make some syrup, but mostly to have it all boiled and concentrated. After tomorrow, I will drain the sweet from my pan and let it freeze again, unless there is a dramatic change in the forecast.
The article I posted on another thread shows that we may not get our traditional cold March and that winter might persist into April. This could lead to a short season depending how fast April warms up. Skip to near the end of the article for easier reading.
https://www.severe-weather.eu/global...ada-europe-fa/
I am still hoping that some of the days that are at freezing or just below freezing will warm up, but that may not happen. Opps just checked the forecast and those 0° C days are gone.
E2044609-74C9-46BB-86F0-4591A96908DB.jpg
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Hey. Putting it out there. I have an small RO system that is now surplus. I upgraded last year, mid season, to a 4x40 with a high pressure pump. My spare is a 3 chamber, 100 GPD in series with a small HP pump. Basically an RO Bucket system mounted on a plank. It pulls about 75-100 gallons of water out of the sap overnight. Let me know via private message if anyone is interested in it. Membranes have 1/4 season on them. Have been flushed and stored in citric acid.
+3.4 C today, I thought the sap would run one last time before the freeze. It is running, but just barely with the sun getting ready to set behind the hill. It will stay above freezing until midnight and I will likely drain the collection barrels after the hockey game. I doubt if I will get 5 gallons, but we will see. I will let that sap freeze as well in storage 5 gallon pails.
When I decided to tap a few more taps on Feb 10, there was a warm spell, then a short cool spell, then a warm spell, then three cold days, with the rest unknown. Based on the winter so far, I had expected another warm up, but three days of cold has turned into a forecasted 12 days of cold and counting.
Last year I tapped on March 6 and did my first boil on March 17.
Edit: after many taps dripping all afternoon and evening and still dripping at 10:45 pm, I collected a whopping 3 gallons. It all counts.
Last edited by Swingpure; 02-19-2023 at 10:06 PM.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
+5 here today and +5 forecasted for tomorrow. Long range forecast needs to warm up a tad for future flows.
The plan is to boil the next two days, but I have no idea of when I will boil for a third day. As mentioned, the hope is the long range forecast will warn a little.
The sap is flowing, but not racing. It is only above freezing for about 6 hours and my hills face east. The smart play is to wait to tap, but I will like the experience of boiling for the first time on the divided pan. I have about 89 gallons to start and should get another 25+ gallons on Sunday. Who knows I might get my first draw or two depending how much sap I collect on Sunday.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Ya a float box will definitely help ya run at a consistent depth and boil rate.
Another big thing I don’t hear mentioned very much about early February tapping compared to early/mid march tapping is the added hours of daylight. From the beginning of February to the end of March is a 2 hour gain of daylight. I figure it’s better to have fresher tap holes at those peak times during max daylight then catching the first or second run in February and having older tap holes during peak times. This year with the winter we had I was more tempted then I’ve been since my year one and two to tap in February. At the end of the day we all chose to tap when we do and for all kinds of reasons.
225 taps 180 on vac 45 on natural gravity lines.
2x6 drop flue with auto draw.
Home built 3 x400gpd ro
2017 kubota M7060hdcc12
2019 can am defender
2017- first year 80 taps 22x36 home made arch and pan.
Well that makes it more interesting and more tempting. As much as I don’t trust weather forecasts lately, the forecasted temperatures for Feb 15/16 are much warmer and the temps for Feb 19/20 are now above freezing and 21 is at freezing. That breaks up the consecutive days of non flow days.
6 and maybe 7 of the 10 days shown are possible flow days. Tomorrow morning I will make the decision whether to tap or not, but today, I may shovel out the area to my collection point, move some collection barrels into place and add the tubing from the end of the line to the barrels.
If I make the decision to tap, I would start tapping Saturday, taking time out to meet a certain person and perhaps finish tapping Sunday morning. Do a test boil Sunday afternoon with water, and if all goes well, maybe start boiling for real on Monday.
So tempting.
BF1F0575-B884-48ED-ACFE-6D979B23690E.jpg
https://share.icloud.com/photos/039_...HKJ9gAytFEkmHg
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Swingpure, if I recall correctly you have a 2x4 pan right? That's not much bigger than my 2x3 and I have 23 taps total. So as soon as you get like 30 or 40 gallons I think you could fire up the evaporator.
GO
2016: Homemade arch from old wood stove; 2 steam tray pans; 6 taps; 1.1 gal
2017: Same setup. 15 taps; 4.5 gal
2018: Same setup. Limited time. 12 taps and short season; 2.2 gal
2019: Very limited time. 7 taps and a short season; 1.8 gals
2020: New Mason 2x3 XL halfway through season; 9 taps 2 gals
2021: Same 2x3, 18 taps, 4.5 gals
2022: 23 taps, 5.9 gals
2023: 23 taps. Added AUF, 13.2 gals
2024: 17 taps, 5.3 gals
All on buckets
Thanks!Originally Posted by berkshires
I may have made a really bad decision but I decided to tap.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/02dZ...mwYbaynfmNEErw
https://share.icloud.com/photos/069j...R2C3W0SoUpAWkw
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
When are people thinking of tapping in the North Bay area.
Looking at the weather it's warm right now, but is getting chilly again. Last year I tapped mid March.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote